Poll: Is Google Fiber the Real Deal?

Ok, it's Friday and after yesterday's news out of Kansas City many have got Google Fiber on the brain. Do we have an access revolution at hand, is this just a minor step forward, is it all hype, or a smoke screen? Don't be shy:

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14 Comments So Far

Although I am a “don’t know” voter as part of this poll, I do not know of any better company whose founder and Chairman, “a great builder” according to the most gifted investor in the world, is capable of succeeding on a “national” roll out basis something akin to this in order to free its citizens from tyranny.

In working for three major telecommunications companies over the last fifteen years and hearing of all the promises of FTTP I’m highly skeptical. The complexities of the network architecture, labor, and material are huge obstacles. The upfront expenditure for the risk has proven too great for some of the largest and more experienced ISPs. Verizon has abandoned its FiOS roll out and is only maintaining its current customer base. ATT has no plans to bring FTTP nor does Frontier, CenturyLink, Windstream, or Fairpoint. Google is being smart in cherry picking their test market and trying to attract potential customers by asking who wants the service so their plan can be focused into the exact area of penetration. It’ll be interesting who Google will choose as their backhaul carrier as they are going have to connect somewhere into a data center or central office. Does then just make Google a glorified CLEC with large cash reserves? So many have failed and there is nothing more than I would love to see for this dream for all of America but it really seems to be a “moon shot.”

Haven’t the FIOS and Uverse buildouts been the only positive notes coming from wireline earning announcements?
Is anyone making a case that those capex dollars spent beginning several years ago will prove to be worthwhile?
Looks like smart money spent to me, but admittedly I’m biased in favor of it.

Google already has a national – if not international – dark fiber network. They are most likely just hopping onto their existing network. It isn’t far from KC to their Council Bluffs datacenter or the major markets of Denver and Chicago.

As others have now noted in the sector, there are two interesting things missing from Google’s KC plans: open access and any sort of voice offering. The latter one can understand, as customers can easily bring their own. But has Google abandoned the open access fiber model entirely? Or might that just come later?

Google looked at opening up the glass, but thus far they’ve not done so, or at least they have not made anything public on the matter. I suspect that if it ever goes “open”, it will be at the bitstream level (L2) and above, and not on the glass, itself (L0/L1).

Need broadband religion? Don’t call the Jehovah Witnesses! If my name was AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable or Comcast, I would be fearful of this new Broadband God, Google, moving strategically one “Fiberhood” at a time……..

It’s a great plan for a variety of reasons. First, it allows Google to roll fiber only where it’ll have a significant customer base. Second, it’s virtually guaranteed that each fiberhood will have at least one or two alpha-geek types who will move heaven and Earth to get this service, evangelizing Google Fiber to their neighbors until they’ve reached the goal. I firmly believe that the number of private citizens marching around their neighborhoods with pamphlets containing information about Google Fiber will outnumber the Jehovah’s Witnesses five to one.

I’d still like to know what hardware in homes they will use to route a 1gbps connection. Most home and small business routers make out at sever hundred kbps in actual routing throughput. Even pfSense suggests a multi-core machine to route more than 500mpbs.

FiOS numbers are upside down due to TV Content. Ask Frontier. Google is rectifying that by not carrying ESPN, the bane of content. U-Verse is a winner – FTTP.

Google is using Kansas City as a showroom. One thing they have already shown is that most telcos lack imagination, which means that they all thing in the same Bell-Head box. No wonder the only thing increasing is debt!